Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, has criticized the House of Representatives for failing to criminalize vote-buying at party primaries, calling it a “setback for Nigeria’s democracy”.

Obi argues that allowing vote-buying to persist undermines internal democracy and weakens the credibility of elections. “By refusing to criminalize vote-buying at the foundational stage of party primaries, the House has chosen to protect a broken system rather than safeguard the nation’s future,” he stated.

Obi emphasized that credible elections cannot be built on corrupt foundations and national progress cannot be achieved while inducement and bribery are legitimized in the democratic process.

He expressed concern that the culture of vote-buying has trickled down to town unions, village associations, clubs, and even student elections, with these groups emulating fraudulent politicians.

The House of Representatives had rejected a proposal to criminalize the inducement of voters during party primaries, citing concerns that such provisions could be abused to harass political opponents.

Obi’s criticism adds to growing pressure on Nigerian lawmakers to demonstrate commitment to electoral integrity.

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the 2026 election in Osun State, Bola Oyebamiji, have exchanged words over the condition of the state’s health sector.

Oyebamiji had earlier pledged to undertake a comprehensive overhaul of the health sector if elected, alleging that health facilities across the state were in a moribund condition.

He described the state of healthcare infrastructure as a major setback to development in Osun State.

Oyebamiji, through his campaign movement coordinator, Adebayo Adedeji, insisted that the health sector had deteriorated under the current administration.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Adedeji said criticism of Oyebamiji would not alter facts he said were already in the public domain.

He cited a report by CheckMyPHC.org, which revealed “significant workforce gaps in Osun’s primary healthcare centres and that 73 per cent of PHCs in the state reportedly lack adequate staffing, with many operating with between zero and one personnel, while 44 per cent were said to have no staff at all.”

The report also noted that “several centres lack clean water, functional toilets and basic hygiene facilities, hindering effective healthcare delivery.”

Adedeji recalled that during the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, under whom Oyebamiji served, more than 300 of the state’s 600 primary healthcare centres were renovated, accusing the Adeleke administration of failing to sustain the initiative.

Governor Adeleke, however, dismissed the claims, describing them as baseless and a deliberate attempt at disinformation.

The governor said Osun currently ranks first in the South-West in the provision of primary healthcare services.

According to Adeleke, his “administration has renovated more than 200 primary healthcare centres across the state since assuming office.”

The All Progressives Congress has scheduled its national convention for March 2026.

The party on Saturday released comprehensive activities for its 2025/2026 nationwide ward, local government, state and zonal congresses, culminating in the party’s national convention.

According to a timetable signed by the National Secretary of the party, Ajibola Basiru, the activities are being conducted pursuant to the provisions of Articles 11 and 17 of the APC Constitution and are aimed at electing party officials across all levels.

The schedule stated that the process will begin with the commencement of membership e-registration on December 1, 2025, which will run until January 30, 2026.

It added that this will be followed by the issuance of notices of congresses to state and Federal Capital Territory chapters on February 2, 2026.

According to the schedule, purchase and submission of forms for ward and local government area congresses are scheduled to take place between February 4 and February 9, 2026.

It disclosed that screening committees for ward and LGA positions will be inaugurated on February 10, with screening of aspirants holding from February 11 to February 13.

Ward congresses are fixed for February 18, 2026, while appeals arising from the ward congresses will be heard on February 19.

Local government congresses, including the election of three delegates, one of whom must be female, to the national convention, will hold on February 20, with appeals scheduled for February 21.

At the state level, the purchase of forms for state executive positions will commence earlier, from February 23 to February 27, 2025. Screening and appeals for state executives are slated for late February and early March 2026, while state congresses will hold on Saturday, March 7, 2026.

The timetable stated that appeals from state congresses will be entertained between March 9 and March 11, while the party will then move to the zonal level, with the purchase and submission of forms for zonal congresses and the national convention scheduled for March 12 to March 17, 2026.

According to the schedule, zonal congresses will be inaugurated on March 18, followed by the screening of aspirants on March 19 and 20.

It said they zonal congresses across the six geopolitical zones will take place on Saturday, March 21, 2026.

The designated zonal offices are Ibadan for the South West, Enugu for the South East, Rivers/Cross River for the South South, Kaduna for the North West, Gombe/Bauchi for the North East, and Nasarawa for the North Central., while appeals arising from the zonal congresses will be heard on March 23.

The timetable shows that the APC National Convention is scheduled to hold from Wednesday, March 25, to Saturday, March 28, 2026.